Good At Heart

Last week as I thought I might want to do my own narration of my book for audible, I put out a question on Facebook as to whether anyone in the Baltimore/Washington area had or knew someone who had a sound studio that I might be able to use. Very quickly, a couple of people, whom I didn’t know sent a name to me and within a few minutes, that person messaged me. We’ve had a few message exchanges and when I asked him about cost his reply was interesting… “Oh, I hadn’t even thought about cost, I just wanted to help you out.” Although I would definitely pay him, I was really struck by what he said.

It took me back to being a kid and wanting to be an actress. By the time, I was in high school I had played Anne Frank several times. It seemed that I would never get the “meaty,” “crazy” roles … I would always be the young ingénue. Being “good” didn’t seem to carry the same valence. So, I became a psychologist. Wow, the stories I have heard.

This morning I spoke with a stranger. A man, who even with all the self-centeredness in today’s world, is a kind human being.

I remember the lines so well:

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”